


Sandbags

by Ineed_coffee13, yourekindof_weird



Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti)
Genre: (sort of), Alternate Universe - Historical, Alternate Universe - Magic, Alternate Universe - Pirate, Ben is sleep deprived, Bisexual Richie Tozier, Derry Island, F/M, Fluff, Gay Eddie Kaspbrak, Gen, M/M, Magic, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Rebellion, Richie Tozier Flirts, Violence, lol
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-28
Updated: 2021-02-09
Packaged: 2021-03-13 22:00:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,261
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29035845
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ineed_coffee13/pseuds/Ineed_coffee13, https://archiveofourown.org/users/yourekindof_weird/pseuds/yourekindof_weird
Summary: Richie sees the cute guy he may or may not be following around (to recruit him for the rebellion, seriously, that's the only reason) failing to steal a loaf of bread and steps in to help him. Their first meeting has the intended effect, Eddie doesn't get arrested, and agrees to join Richie and his friends in the fight against the tyrant king of Derry Island.Eddie wasn't even trying to steal the fucking bread.
Relationships: Ben Hanscom/Beverly Marsh, Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier
Kudos: 4





	1. Bread Heist

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! So I (yourekindof_weird) haven't posted anything in a while (lol, oops, life got in the way) but Ineed_coffee13 wrote the first chapter of this and asked for some feedback. One thing led to another and we ended up basically yelling new ideas for the story at each other on Discord. Coffee is the one who's actually writing most of this so most of the credit goes to her. I'm pretty much a glorified beta. Anyway, hope you enjoy the story!
> 
> HIIIII (It is I, Coffee.) Weird is lying, she's edited so much and the first chapter was shit until she helped me out. If anyone has read my work before, you'll see that my writing is much better with her by my side. Anyway, I'm really excited about where this story is going and I'm having a lot of fun writing with Weird. I hope y'all like the fic!!! <3 <3 <3

Fifteen-year-old Eddie stood near the bakery in the market of Hogsville, eyeing the sad loaf of bread that had fallen to the cold cobblestone ground. No one had picked it up, and he couldn’t bear seeing good food go to waste. He stepped forward and bent down to pick it up, then dusted it off with his coat, seeing as his hands were actually quite dirty from a lack of places to wash in this god awful town. 

As he finished getting some grass off of the loaf (about to put it back on the shelf), the baker’s gaze drifted from a customer to the loaf of bread, which unfortunately looked very much like it was being stolen. 

“You! Boy!”

Eddie’s eyes snapped up. “M-me?” he looked behind him… maybe there was another boy there?

“Yes, you!” 

Eddie turned back to the baker, who had become ten times scarier looking during the point five seconds that Eddie hadn’t been looking.

“Are you stealing my bread, boy?”

“What?! No, no I swear I was just-”

“Save it, thief. I’ve half a mind to have you arrested for this.”

“What? No, I promise I was only picking it up from the ground… it fell.”

“What a horrible lie. Give it back now and I’ll spare you.”

Eddie thought,  _ spare me? Was he gonna kill me or something?  _ “That’s what I was going to d-” before Eddie could say another word, someone grabbed his arm, pulling him at a bajillion miles per hour.

The guy pulling him was wearing a big cloak and hood. “Follow me.”

“Well you  _ are  _ pulling me by my arm, do I have a choice?”

“Oh, haha. Sorry” the guy let go, for some reason fully trusting that Eddie would follow him as he ran… which is what Eddie did.

“Where are we going? Who are you? Why did you-”

The guy grabbed Eddie’s arm again and pulled him into an alley. He took his hood off and smiled.

Eddie stared at the guy. He looked like he was Eddie’s age. And  _ damn _ , this guy was hot. His curly hair was so unbrushed that it looked intentional. His bright, brown eyes stared at Eddie with mischief and pure excitement. “Oh dear lord.” 

“Excuse me?”

Eddie had meant to say that in his head. 

“I mean… oh dear lord… you made me steal this bread!”

“What? You mean you were telling the truth to that baker?”

“ _ Yes _ ! Of course I was! It had fallen and I was dusting it off with my coat.”

“Why would you dust bread off with fabric?” the guy laughed (and Eddie’s heart skipped a few beats… then sped until it was nearly beating out of his chest). 

“My hands were dirty so I wanted to hold it with my coat… I dunno I was just-”

The guy laughed again. “You’re cute,” he ran a hand through his hair. “Man I thought I was helping you get away with a bread heist. But I guess I just dragged you into one.”

“Yes, that’s exactly what you’ve done.”

“So what’s your name, bread boy?”

“Edward… Eddie. And I certainly did  _ not  _ give you permission to call me  _ bread boy. _ ”

“Okay, Eddie Bready. I’m Richard. Richie.”

Eddie blushed. “Eddie Bready?”

“Yeah. ‘dunno about you but I think it’s cute,” Richie looked up at the sky. “The sun’s setting. Come with me.”

“Woah, woah, woah. Where are you taking me?”

“To my ship,” Richie walked backward whilst pulling a (very cute) smile. 

“Your ship? Why are you taking me to a ship?” Eddie didn’t move.

Richie stopped and his smile softened. “Well, I assume you’re all alone out here.”

“How would you know that.”

“Because you slept on a pile of sandbags last night.”

Eddie’s blush came back even brighter. “Ok that's fair- WAIT… have you been watching me??”

“Ok I see how that could seem a bit… strange… but we’ve been searching for more kids to join us on our journey to Derry Island. We need a few extra hands on the ship. We docked here three weeks ago and I saw you come into town… I waited for a good time to talk to you and a bread heist seemed like the perfect time.”

“Wh- okay first of all, who’s  _ we _ ?”

“Oh yeah!  _ We _ is my crew. Beverly, Stan, Micheal, Benjamin, and William,” he counted on his fingers as he listed the names. “A gaggle of misfit orphans.”

“... you’re all orphans?”

“As far as we know.”

Eddie stayed silent for a second.

Richie rubbed the back of his neck and looked down at his scuffed up shoes. “Look, it’s fine if you don’t want to come with me… I know I kinda just ambushed you,” he looked up, his facial expression far more vulnerable looking, “but... I saw you there last night… just sitting alone eating scraps. I just felt like I was watching another me. The kids on that ship and I… we’re gonna do great things when we get where we’re going. We could use someone like you. And I think you might be in need of someone like us.”

“Gee thanks.” Eddie’s face mirrored Richie’s. “And I guess you’re right. But… What do you mean you could  _ use someone like me _ ? From what you say you saw last night, I’m pretty useless.”

“That’s not true.”

“Name one reason I could be of use to you and your crew.”

“You have a brain. And a heart.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”  
“It means every single person on that ship is a thief. A smuggler. You might be able to help us get stuff without making enemies everywhere we go.”

“And you can’t do that yourselves?”

“People’ve spread the word about us. Someone new could be good for us. They won’t know you’re with us. They won’t arrest what they aren’t looking for.”

“So you just wanna use me because I don’t steal all my food?”

“What? No of course not… I.. we- look… I don’t mean I wanna use you. I mean we’ve dug ourselves into some holes and done some things to people we should  _ not  _ have done things to. You could teach us some things… especially me. We’ve run out of brainpower. Maybe one more brain is all we need.”

“And who says that brain is mine?”

“I do,” Richie sighed. “Eddie I’ve searched from kingdom to kingdom for someone like you. But it never works, because no one will leave home, no one has a brain, no one isn’t a thief just like us. No one cleans bread with a coat.” 

Eddie cringed, but then looked at Richie like he was surrendering. “You really want me to come with you?”

“If you will.”

Eddie paused for a moment, looked around at the empty alleyway, then looked back at Richie. “I guess there’s nothing for me here, anyway.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, this is Coffee here! I hope you guys enjoyed chapter 1! We'll try to post as often as possible, at least once a week. (With the exception of the chance that one of us gets abducted by aliens...)
> 
> <3


	2. The Ship

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's chapter two!!

Eddie followed Richie to his ship. They mainly walked through alleyways, which made sense seeing as Richie was wanted in, like, every kingdom on the planet. 

“Just around this corner,” Richie had his hood up again, his curls sticking out just slightly. 

They walked past a few shops and as they turned the corner to face the docks, Eddie saw the ship. It was beautiful. A large, wooden boat with yellow sails. He saw six kids around his and Richie’s age all walking around. It looked like they were preparing to leave. Richie took Eddie’s hand and pulled him to meet his crewmates, but with every step, Eddie began second-guessing his decision to tag along. He’d been doing fine on his own, after all. 

The first to walk down the ramp to the dock was a girl with fiery red hair, short and curly, almost like Richie’s but more tamed. She smiled wide. She was beautiful. 

“Hey Rich. you made a new friend!” They did some sort of secret handshake and then she looked at Eddie with a kind smile. “Who’s this handsome fellow?”

Did she just call him handsome? Richie smiled and looked at Eddie. “This is Eddie Bready.” 

Eddie’s face went a bit pink. “Uh- just Eddie… is fine,” he offered a hand.

She shook it, her glowing smile remaining on her freckled face. “I’m Beverly. It’s nice to meet you! Will you be joining us on our journey to Derry Island?”

“Uh-” 

“Of  _ course _ he is!” Richie cut Eddie off, patting him on the back. A bit condescending, but it was a kind pat, nonetheless. 

“Guess I am…” Eddie smiled awkwardly.

Beverly raised an eyebrow at Richie and then looked back at Eddie. “Don’t let him pressure you Eddie Bready,” she smiled again. “We would love to have you though, if you’re sure you’d like to come.”

“Uh…” Eddie thought:  _ I’ve come this far. _ “Yeah… yeah I think I’d like to come. If you’ll have me that is.” 

“Of course! Come on then. Let’s introduce you to the others,” She wrapped an arm around his shoulders and guided him up the ramp and onto the ship. “They’re gonna love you.”

Eddie was also too nervous to tell Bev he didn’t like being named after bread. “Okay…”

Richie strolled happily after them.

As they made their way onto the boat, a blonde boy stood up from a large crate where he’d been reading. He also had beautiful curls. Just a fact. And damn his smile was just as kind as Beverly’s. “Hi there,” he ignored Richie, more interested in the new boy than the kid he’d spent the past 8 years on a boat with. “I’m Stan,” he held out his hand.

Eddie shook it. “I’m Eddie. No bread.”

Stan was a tad puzzled. “O-okay?”

Richie snorted a bit, but didn’t say anything.

Stan smiled again, still confused. “Anyways, welcome onto the SS Georgie!”

“Who’s Georgie?”

This caught another boy’s attention. He had straight brown hair, and a face that told you to go to specifically him for advice. “My br-brother. He’s not with us anymore…” He approached them, his smile smaller, but just as welcoming.

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” His smile grew a bit. Maybe to make Eddie feel a bit less uncomfortable. “I’m W-William. Bill.”

“Hi,” Eddie smiled a bit. “I’m Eddie.”

“Welcome aboard Eddie,” As Bill spoke, Eddie saw another boy climbing down the ladder from the bird’s nest. He was pretty jacked. He had short hair, and a rope in one hand. Bill noticed Eddie’s gaze no longer on him, and turned around to see who Eddie was staring at. “That’s Mike.”

“Woah.”

Richie spoke for the first time in what seemed like forever. “You in love?” He teased, laughing.

“W-what?” Eddie’s face went red. Maybe not everyone who sees Mike goes “woah” immediately. 

“I’m joking,” Damn Richie’s smirk was cute.

“Oh…” still very uncomfortable.

Mike walked up to them, adding to the collection of kind and welcoming (and beautiful) smiles. “Who do we have here?”

Richie began, “Eddie B-”

“EDDIE,” Eddie glared at Richie. “Just Eddie.”

Mike chuckled. “Okay, just Eddie,” He switched the rope from one hand to the other and stuck out the now empty hand. “I’m Mike.”

Eddie shook it, his hand growing more sweaty with every hand he shook. There were just  _ so many  _ people here. More than he was used to. It was intimidating. 

Richie looked around. For someone? “Where’s Ben?”

Bev looked around too. “I don’t know- oh you know what?” She looked back at them. “I think he’s sleeping.”

Richie laughed, a bit mockingly. “Why?”

“Let’s just say ‘someone’ was pacing all night and everyone could hear it. This boat is old Richie. Creaky floors.”

“Oh - yeah…” 

She smiled at Eddie. “He was nervous to meet you.”

Eddie furrowed his eyebrows, looking up at Richie.

Richie shook his head. “Pffff no I wasn’t. I’m just stressed about going back to Derry.”

“Going  _ back _ to Derry?”

“Yeah… we’re from there. We’re going to take it back.”

“From who?”

“The king. That asshole’s a tyrant.”

Beverly seemed a bit unsettled but smiled it off. “We haven’t been back in a while.”

“Oh,” Eddie nodded like he understood what was going on.

Suddenly Bill appeared, which was weird because no one had noticed him disappear to begin with. “Alright. We should go. I heard som-something about some kids who may or may not be w-wanted for a large sum of money.”

Stan cut in. “Us. He’s talking about us,” he explained.

Eddie looked between all of them. “Yeah… I assumed.”

Mike started for the steering wheel. “Let’s go!”

Everyone seemed to disperse to their own jobs, smiling at Eddie as they left. Richie turned to him. “You like ‘em?”

“Who? Your crew?”

“Yeah.”

“Oh- yeah they’re nice,” He looked at the floor and then back up at Richie, who was finally taking his hood off. “Were you really nervous to meet me?”

“Pff. maybe.”

Eddie smiled a bit. “Why?”

“Let’s just say most kids I meet don’t really like me too much.”

“Well, I can see why,” Richie almost looked offended until Eddie smiled. “I’m kidding. You’re not too bad.”

Richie smiled back. “C’mon. Let’s get you something to eat, other than that loaf of bread.”

They walked toward a small trap door at the back of the boat and Richie hopped down, reaching out a hand to help Eddie. He took it, hesitantly, and hopped down after him. 

“Take your pick,” Richie gestured to a series of canned items. Fruits, beans, some weird paste.

“I um… I think I’ll stick to my bread.”

Richie laughed. “You sure? You want some jam with that?”

“I’m good,” Eddie lies. So maybe he loves jam, sure, but the politeness his mother instilled in him before... Well, it hasn't gone away. Richie has already done so much for him, just by letting him tag along, letting Eddie intrude on this space he shares with his friends. He can stick to his plain loaf. 

“Alright,” Richie took a jar of spiced peaches off a shelf. “Follow me,” he climbed back up and out of the small room. Eddie followed. Richie walked to the very front of the ship. Leaning forward and staring out at the ocean as the ship began pulling away from the docks, the sun setting behind them. Richie opened his peaches, looking at Eddie with a smile.

“What…”

“Nothing. Just glad you came.”

Was he really glad that he was here? “Oh… okay,” he leaned onto the rails like Richie was. He thought:  _ maybe it won’t be so bad. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi!! It's Coffee again! Weird doesn't do end notes apparently. Hope you enjoyed this chapter! <3 <3


	3. Goodnight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Richie shows Eddie around the ship a bit more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys!!! it's Coffee here! I hope you guys like this chapter!!

After staring at the ocean for a bit and picking away at his dry-ass bread, Eddie was getting tired.

Richie tucked his empty peach jar into a random nook between thick ropes and looked over at Eddie. “Hey, we should get some sleep. Shit’s gonna start happening. Starting tomorrow.”

“Yeah… good idea.” Richie saying  _ shit’s gonna start happening _ worried Eddie just a tad.

“C’mon. I’ll show you where we sleep.” Richie guided Eddie down yet another trapdoor. As they entered the room, which was much larger than the pantry, he saw the crew sitting around a small table, playing cards.

Beverly looked up with a smile, Eddie saw her hand of cards. She was about to win. “Eddie Bready! Wanna play?”

Stan now understood why Eddie had said  _ “no bread,” _ and audibly said, “ohhh.”

Eddie shook his head a bit. “No I’m good. Thank you though.”

“‘Course!” she went back to winning.

Stan, who’d been leaning on a support beam staring at Mike’s hand of cards the whole game, stood up straight and walked over to them, failing to hide the concern on his face. “Hey Rich can we talk?”

“What’s up Stan the man?”

“...” Stan looked around. “In private?”

“Oh… yeah sure. Bev, show Eddie where his bed is. I’ll be back in a jiff.”

Bev smiled at Eddie and gave a thumbs up to Richie, “Okay.”

Stan quickly pulled Richie around a corner, being blocked by a stack of crates.

Stan leaned against the wall. “Rich.”

“Ssstan.”

“We don’t have a plan. It’s been days and all you’ve been thinking about is recruiting that guy. He’s nice. I’m glad he’s here. But we can’t go to Derry if we don’t know what we’re doing.”

“Stan. we’re gonna be fine. I’m already making a plan. Don’t worry. Let’s discuss this tomorrow. With everyone.”

“You said that yesterday.”  
“Wull, yesterday I lied.”

Stan stared at him. 

“Stan. we’re gonna be  _ fine _ okay? Chill! We’ll make a plan.” Richie started leaving, but Stan took his arm for a second. “What?”

Stan looked worried. “Richie, it was bad when we left. It’s _gotta_ be worse after eight years away.”

“Don’t worry. I promise we’ll win this.”

Stan was quiet for a bit, then he nodded slightly. “Okay,” they walked back into the open room.

Bev was now standing behind a very stressed Eddie, who was holding Bev’s hand of cards. 

Richie’s eyebrows furrowed as he smiled. “What’s goin’ on in here?” He thought they’d all be getting ready for bed.

“Teaching Eddie how to play.”

“I already know how to play…” Eddie was doing better than Bev had been doing.

“Watching Eddie play.”

Richie walked over to his hammock, one of eight hanging from the ceiling. “Alrighty then.”

Ben was still sound asleep in his hammock, in the far corner of the room, Bev looked over at him. “Guess we should all sleep soon too.”

Bill was focused on the game. “Wait, wait, I’m gonna win,” unfortunately, he said this as Eddie won. “Nevermind.”

Eddie smiled wider than Richie had seen. He thought:  _ maybe he’s getting used to things around here. _

Richie smiled too. “Damn he beat the undefeatable!”  
Bev looked offended. “What are you talking about? _I’m_ the undefeatable.”

“Sure you are,” Stan sat down on his bed, his expression far less worried than it had been minutes ago. Maybe he was just hiding it from the crew. “Alright, everyone shut up. I want to go to sleep.” 

Richie flopped down into his own hammock, putting his feet up, followed by Mike standing up and laying down. Bill cleaned up the cards (like he’s always preferred to do, seeing as Stan once ripped a card in half whilst trying to help him), and Eddie sat there like: “Where am I supposed to go??”

Bev stood up and strolled over to the hammock beside Ben’s, turning around to look at Eddie. “Hey Eddie, you can have the one next to Richie.”

Bill looked up from cleaning up cards. “I’m next to Richie.”

“The  _ other _ next to Richie, Bill.”

“Oh yeah- forgot we put another hammock there.”

Eddie stood up and walked to the hammock next to Richie. “Thanks...”

Bill finished putting the cards away and went around blowing out candles.  Everyone layed down, most with a sigh or a tired grunt. As the last candle’s light disappeared, Eddie finally let his head rest fully into the pillow, his neck getting less stiff and stressed. He stared at the ceiling.

Richie smiled to himself. Great things were coming. “Night everyone.”

A simultaneous chorus of goodnight’s echoed through the ship as everyone drifted off.

Eddie thought he’d be awake for another hour or two, his mind all over the place like always, but he hadn’t had a real pillow in months. He fell asleep within minutes to the sound of crashing waves outside. 

Across the room, Mike wondered if Eddie was at all concerned that no one was manually steering the ship. He waved a hand, making the boat turn left ever so slightly, and smiled as he fell asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Coffee here again! I hope you enjoyed reading this one. likely another chapter later this week and/or sometime next week!


End file.
